Meet Bobby Littrell | Venue Owner

It wasn’t really a thought process. More of a journey. Before The Shed was a music space, The Shed was my dad’s wood shop. He was a cabinetmaker. A little before the pandemic/quarantine he was diagnosed with leukemia, which led to him not being able to use his shop. Through his battle with cancer, The Shed began to fill with junk and storage. Slowly, turning into a hoarding situations.

Unfortunately, he passed in 2022 but I would see The Shed and it’d just remind me he was gone and the space that he loved was full of trash and random junk so I started clearing it out and cleaning up the space. From time to time, I’d play music in there and the metal structure gives off this natural reverb that transforms the sound into something really cool. Id have a few friends over for jam sessions, then friends of friends began storing gear in The Shed.

Around March 2022, I invited Britt Hughes, who I started this project with over and I pitched her the idea of doing little shows for our friends bands. The shows grew to a few more people attending, like 20-30 people. That’s when Shaye Wolf came to The Shed and hated our little PA system and had his own PA system he wanted to start using. He was also the one that noticed The Shed was wired to handle large amounts of electricity; table saws, band saws etc need/use a lot of power. Shaye let us know that we could handle a bigger PA system and lighting without the fear of blowing a fuse. That’s when it all really came together. We could use the space to build and create something special. We had a reliable space to create sound better than any space in the valley.

We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others.

I think about this a few different ways. If by ‘others’ meaning other DIY/small venues, I like to think nothing sets us apart. We are all artist-focused, willing to help each other out, lending a hand at shows, sending band recommendations for bills or borrowing some gear here and there, we’re all sort of on the same team.

We are ANTI- Pay-to-Play, we never ask artists to sell a certain amount of tickets, every artist on the bill and staff member involved in the show gets paid, we never take a cut of the band’s merch sales, and we don’t charge customers online service fees or hidden fees. We do have to be more selective in the shows that we put on. That’s because the success of the show lies on our shoulders, not the artist. Their only job is to play. Our job is to create a space that allows them to play at their best.

What are you most proud of or excited about.

What I’m most proud of is the community that has organically grown from our events. From photographers, vendors, producers, videographers and young industry professionals all networking with one another, learning about each other’s projects and working together or talking about how they can help each other is so awesome. Seeing connections being made in real time is really cool.

How did you get to where you are today business-wise.

I can’t stress this enough, it’s a “We” thing. There are four core people involved in this project. Brit Hughes and I started The Shed together with just an empty shed and wanting to have a place for our friend’s bands to play. We handle all the bookings, management and logistics of the shows. Shaye Wolf a is brilliant sound engineer. When he joined the team he elevated us to another level. A little while later, Patrick Ercolini, owner of Livepros Production came to a show and saw we didn’t have good lighting. He knew how amazing the space could look with proper lighting and made The Shed the top-tier venue it is today. We all got where we are today by trusting each other’s genius. It all came together organically.

Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges?

I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but it is the most fun I’ve had in a really long time. When I think about specific challenges, the hard part is thinking about and anticipating all obstacles and creating a space for success. A lot of little details and changes go into creating a safe production. For example, starting at the front door, we’re really welcoming and just thankful people even came out. That translates to attendees being more friendly. A smile makes a smile, sort of thing. We walk around with decibel meters during the show making sure the sound isn’t bleeding into the street. We have staff specifically in the crowd watching out for attendees. It’s all the little things that make a huge difference to the success of a show.

What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to let people help you. Let them build and contribute to what is being built. So often, I think people have this “This is my project. Don’t touch it” mentality. That really limits you. I quickly learned that I have no clue how to do a lot things and that’s okay. If someone knows how to do what I don’t know how to do and wants to do it, I let them do it and give them the space to do it the way they want it done. If it’s off, that’s okay. Let’s make your idea work. What matters is they want to be involved in the first place.

What more do you want the world to know about you and The Shed?

I just hope when people come to one of our shows they get to experience a special moment. If they notice the care and attention we put into the show that always feels good. Liking the bands that we like and wanting to come back is a big plus.